


Pinkie Promises and Sandwich Crusts.

by CaptainnAustralia



Category: Batman (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: M/M, de-aged!Jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-06
Updated: 2012-02-06
Packaged: 2017-10-30 17:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainnAustralia/pseuds/CaptainnAustralia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fill of an anonymous request on Tumblr for a de-aged Jason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pinkie Promises and Sandwich Crusts.

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [小小指头勾一勾 / Pinkie Promises and Sandwich Crusts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/914719) by [blurryyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryyou/pseuds/blurryyou)



It was a totally routine night, regular patrol. Tim took down some bag guys, saved some nice people, flung himself into danger and fought his way out again. It was just about time to head home when he saw it.

A kid.

Facing off with at least three gang members. He had his fists raised, his cheeks flushed and his eyes wide. His clothing was three sizes too big and falling off his body, dirt — or possibly blood, Tim couldn’t tell — pressed over his clothes and on his cheek.

He looked terrified.

The men were laughing, like this was the best joke in the world, one of them carefully pulling out a handgun from the waist band of his jeans. Tim dropped silently behind the boy, pulling himself to full height.

“I-I’ll hurt you! G-get away!”

The eyes of the men widened and Tim smirked.

“Run!” One of the men shouted, bolting from the alleyway, and the others took no time following him.

“Ha!” The boy shouted, “and don’t you come back!” He laughed, jumping in the air and throwing a fist above him.

“Kid,”

He nearly wet himself, spinning around so quickly that he stumbled. He backtracked a few quick steps.

“Who are you?!”

That’s new – everybody knew Red Robin like they knew Batman and Robin.

“Red Robin. What are you doing facing off with a bunch of gangsters kid? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” The boy pulled himself to full height and puffed out his chest.

“I could have handled them.” Tim wanted to laugh, stepping closer to the boy, giving him a once over, looking for injuries. He took in the jeans that hung off the kid, the black t-shirt, the heavy leather jacket that was far too big and a little too thick to just be leather, the tuffs of angry red hair, the angry scroll that tipped slightly to the side to show that he was  _trying_  to be the tough silent guy he was fighting the urge to ask a question and –

_Holy mother of god it’s Jason._

“Jason?” Tim asked before he could stop himself. The green eyes – definitely Jason – shot wide.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?!”

“Oh my god it  _is_ you. What the hell happened?” The boy’s frowned deepened.

“I asked my questions first.”

“I can’t tell you who I am here. I have a secret identity to protect.” Jason’s face flushed.

“Really? That’s so cool!” He squeaked. Then he seemed to catch himself, pushing his expression back into a scroll.

“I mean. That’s okay.”

“So what happened? How old are you?” He pushed his chest out indignantly again.

“I’m ten. And I dunno. I woke up like this a few blocks over. I live in that building,” he pointed to the building behind Tim, his proud stance shifting into a weaker bend with every word – Jason’s armoured jacket must really be weighing the kid down, “but it’s not… the same. All torn up on the inside, nobody could live there. All my stuff was there. It all got ruined.” Tim caught the lip quiver before Jason looked away, scuffing his shoe pointedly.

This must have been where Jason lived before Bruce found him. Tim didn’t know where Jason’s current apartment was, he tended to shift month to month.

“So you don’t have anywhere to go?”

“I-I can find a place.”

Tim knew what he should do. He should take Jason back to the manor. If whatever had happened was permanent… well he couldn’t leave a child on the streets like this, especially not Jason.

“You can stay with me,” Tim said, already working out the quickest route back to his apartment.

“I’m not going with you. I don’t even  _know_  you. You could be a molester.” Tim almost wanted to laugh. He didn’t, maintaining his Red Robin mask of seriousness.

“You can either stay at my apartment, safe and warm or you can stay in this alleyway and freeze to death. Or wait for the gang members to come back and kill you.” He saw Jason waver before setting his face solidly.

“Better on the streets than locked in the home of a molester.”

“I’m not a molester Jason.”

“A molester would say that.”

“Oh for god’s sake,” Tim muttered, starting over.

“Get away from me!” Tim grabbed Jason by the back of his jacket as the kid started to run, yanking him back, hard. Jason stumbled into Tim’s grip and the apparently now older boy struck a nerve hit before Jason could pull away, making him fall limp.

“I’m sorry Jay. You can’t stay out here. If you die I’ll never hear the end of it from Dick.” He lifted the boy up, knocking an arm under the back of his knees and hoisting him against Tim’s chest. The nerve hit held surprisingly well, lasting all the way back to Tim’s apartment. Jason was only just beginning to regain movement when Tim settled him carefully on the couch.

“Do me a favour and stay put will you? Just,” he tossed the remote onto Jason’s chest, “watch some TV or something.” Tim moved into the bedroom and stripped off quickly. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower and to fall into bed, but he couldn’t to either with the risk of Jason disappearing. And he really didn’t want to have to go searching for a runaway in the middle of the night.

He reached for his phone after throwing on some old clothes.

“Hello little brother.”

“Hey Dick. I, uh… I need your help.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“It’s Jason.”

“What happened? Did he hurt you?”

“Uh. No. He uh… I don’t know how to tell you this but he’s sitting on my couch. And he’s ten.”

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t know what happened. He got de-aged somehow or something.”

“Are you sure it’s him?”

“It’s him Dick.”

“I… how?!”

“Look I don’t know. Can you just get over here?”

“I’m on my way.” Tim hung up, tossing the phone onto the bed and biting his lip. He really did need that shower…

He poked his head out of the room.

“Jay?” A tiny red head popped up over the edge of the couch. He was still there then.

“If I go and have a shower will you please not run away? I  _really_  don’t want to have to come and get you.” Tim watched Jason’s eyes go very wide, staring with an open mouth.

“Uh. Is that a yes?”

Jason blinked a few times then smiled. It was an odd smile, more of a smirk.

“Yeah I’ll be here.” Tim just nodded.

“Food in the kitchen if you want it.” Tim vanished into the bedroom again. He stripped and showered quickly, throwing on a pair of sweat pants before heading out to check on Jason once more, towelling off his hair. Jason was staring into the fridge.

“Find anything?” Tim asked, reaching for a glass over the skin. Jason turned and watched Tim for a moment as the man poured himself a glass of water.

“Everything has to be cooked.” Tim chuckled, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah cuz it’s  _good_  for you. I can make you a sandwich if you like.” Jason nodded and Tim reached around him to grab some things from the fridge, and the bread from the other side of the counter.

“You’re all scared,” Jason said. Tim looked down at his bare chest, suddenly uncomfortable with the fact he hadn’t put on a shirt after his shower – it was just habit.

“Yeah. That’s what happens when you fight crime. It fights back.”

“Do they hurt?” Jason said more quietly. He was standing closer to Tim now – he reached out, his hand hovering over one of the deeper looking marks on Tim’s arm.

“Not anymore. They’re just reminders now.”

“Of what?”

“To be careful.”

Jason looked up at Tim, his face curious.

“Can I…?” Tim just shrugged.

“If you want.” Jason ran a finger over one of the scars.

“It’s rough,” he said quietly. He let his finger trail onto the smooth, unmarred skin next to the mark, “that’s soft.”

“Yeah I know,” Tim said with a bemused smile. He quickly sliced the crusts off Jason’s sandwich – he remembered the first time Alfred had made him a sandwich and he’d questioned its lack of crust and the way Alfred had apologised with an almost heartbroken expression. Tim worked it out on his own — Jason always had his crusts removed, it had been habit for Alfred to remove Tim’s.  He handed Jason a plate with the sandwich and went about making his own while Jason moved to sit on the stools on the other side of the bench.

“Drink?”

“What you got?”

“The appropriate response there was ‘Yes please.’ And juice.”

“Then yes please.” Tim settled the glass before Jason a minute later, glancing at the clock. Dick should be here by now; he really didn’t live that far away…

“I’ve decided you’re not a molester.” Jason announced. Tim rolled his eyes.

“Gee thanks. I’m so honoured.

“So I’ll stay the night now.” Jason informed Tim as though it had been the younger boy’s decision all along.

“Wonderful. I hope you like the couch.”

“It’s not bad. I’d rather the bed.”

“Yeah well the bed is mine.” Jason shot Tim his childish smile smirk.

“We could share.”

“And you thought  _I_ was the molester,” Tim joked, cutting his sandwich. He didn’t see the way Jason stared, cocking his head to the side, considering.

“What’s your name?” Jason asked. Tim hid his surprise. He’d forgotten that Jason didn’t know his name.

“Tim. Tim Drake-Wayne.”

“Fancy double last name. So why do you fight crime, Tim?” Jason asked – he was picking the lettuce out of his sandwich as he spoke.

“Because it’s the right thing to do. It’s what I was trained to do.”

“You’re too cute to be fighting crime.”

Tim’s hand froze bringing the glass of water to his lips.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Well… uh, thank you? I guess? But looks have nothing to do with it.”

“I dunno. Couldn’t you just go marry some pretty young lady and get out of Gotham?”

“I have no interest in the pretty young ladies of Gotham.”

“A pretty young man then,” Jason said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Tim glared at him but the door knocked before he could reply. Jason chewed on his sandwich quietly before Tim returned with another man.

Jason slid out of his chair, walking a little closer. He looked between Dick and Tim before stiffening and jutting his jaw out in a way that would have seemed intimidating if he was older.

“Who are you?”

“Jason, this is Dick.” Jason snorted, but recovered.

“Okay that’s him,” Dick said without hesitation. Tim laughed lightly, shaking his head and patting Dick’s arm lightly before walking back into the kitchen.

Jason narrowed his eyes at Dick, before raising an eyebrow and whirling around to face Tim once more.

“Is this your boyfriend?” He snarled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

Tim choked on his sandwich.

“N-no!” Tim choked. Dick laughed behind him and then walked up next to Jason clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“So. I guess I can take him back to the manor.” Jason wriggled out of Dick’s grip, glaring up at the older man.

“I guess not.” The older boys looked at Jason, who had set his face.

“Uh… sorry?” Dick asked.

“I want to stay here,” Jason said firmly, backing away a few steps, bringing himself closer to Tim.

“Look, Jay the manor is the—”

“I want to stay here. I like it here.”

“He can if he wants,” Tim said with a shrug, “he can crash on the couch.”

“I dunno little bird…”

“Little bird?” Jason asked incredulously, flicking his eyes between them again, his voice thick with suspicion.

“What about it?” Dick asked.

“If you’re not his boyfriend then why are you giving him nicknames like ‘little bird’?” Jason asked distrustfully.

“Because he’s my  _little brother_ ,” Dick said. Jason’s stance relaxed completely and he eyed Dick again, this time with less unbridled and unnecessary hate.

“Oh. Okay,” Jason shrugged like he didn’t really care about this response. Dick looked between Tim’s confused expression and Jason’s lightly tinted cheeks.

“Oh that’s hilarious,” Dick said after a moment.

“What’s hilarious?”

“Little Jason has a crush on you Timmy.”

“I do not!” Jason shouted, his cheeks flushing and his jaw clicking into place.

“That’s probably why he didn’t bolt the second you left him alone in the apartment. He thought you were  _cute_.”

“I… hu?” Tim managed eloquently.

“Mysterious masked man who saved him from the big bad world and the mask comes off and you look like  _you_ , Timmy that’s got to do things to any guy.”

“Shut up!” Jason growled at Dick, the sound like an angry kitten. Dick only just managed to quell his laughter to look at Jason with a wicked grin.

“Okay, okay calm down Jaybird.”

“What is it with you and  _birds_?” Jason muttered angrily, returning to his seat and going about ignoring Dick as best he could, munching on his sandwich.

“So you’ll keep him here tonight?” Dick asked Tim, still grinning.

“Apparently I don’t have much choice. Whatever it is might wear off over night and we can deal with it in the morning.”

“Oh I really don’t want to be here to witness that.”

“If I die, mourn me.”

“Will do little brother.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick left shortly after before recommending with a smirk that Jason shower and borrow some of Tim’s clothes. Begrudgingly the others agreed – mostly because Jason’s clothes were WAY too big and he smelled a little under the dirt.

Tim set up the couch with pillows and a blanket while Jason showered. He padded out quietly in a pair of Tim’s old sweats and a simple black t-shirt. It irritated Tim a little that Jason at ten could fit almost perfectly into clothes Tim could still squeeze into.

“Couch is all set up. Try not to wake me if you watch TV or something, I have school tomorrow.” Jason’s nose scrunched up.

“You go to  _school?_ ”

“University.”

“ _Why?_  You’re a superhero!”

“I don’t want to be Red Robin forever. You think I want to be fifty and still collecting scars? If I even  _make_  it to that?” Jason’s face fell.

“I didn’t think about that.”

“You’re young. You wouldn’t.”

“Y-you could die out there? With all your armour?”

“There are things armour won’t stop Jay, I’m not invincible. People…  _family_ have died before.”

“That’s  _stupid_ ,” Jason spat – Tim blinked, surprised at his sudden flair of anger, “you shouldn’t  _die_  to protect people who don’t  _care_. You’re a hero. It’d be a pretty shitty reward for saving all those lives for you to die in some gutter.”

Tim wondered if his mouth was hanging open. It probably was – he struggled to pull himself back into an impassive state.

“That’s the risk of being a hero.”

“So  _why_  do you take it? Because you were  _trained?_  That’s  _stupid_. You shouldn’t be Red Robin. You should just be Tim. Then you won’t be killed.”

“I have to be Red Robin.”

“ _Why?!”_

“Because I  _do_.”

“That’s not a good enough reason.”

“It is for me.”

“IT’S STUPID. YOU’RE STUPID. _”_  Tim actually took a step back at Jason’s shout and the younger boy looked surprised at his own actions.

“Sorry. I. I didn’t mean to shout. I just… I don’t want you to die,” Jason said in a small voice.

Maybe Tim had fell and hit his head and this was all a  _very_  strange dream. Because de-aged or not Jason Todd was not like  _this_.

“Why do you  _care?_ You don’t even  _know_ me! _”_

Jason played with the hem of his shirt, oddly bashful, not making eye contact as a blush flared uncharacteristically across his cheeks.

“Cuz. You’re nice. Y-you cut the crust off my sandwich a-and you let me stay in your house. You’re c-cute and have money  _and_  you’re nice  _and_  you try to save people and that’s not normal. You’re good. You don’t deserve to die.”

Tim gaped at Jason before realizing he should probably say something.

“Th-thank you?”

Jason’s cheeks became a deeper red.

“I’m tired,” Jason said pointedly.

“Uh. Right. Okay,” Tim moved awkwardly toward his room and Jason settled himself on the couch, rolling over and snuggling into the cushions.

“Goodnight then. I guess,” Tim called from his door.

“Yeah. Night.”

Tim flipped off the light, sending his apartment into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The crash woke him, sending him rocketing up in his bed. Mildly disoriented it took him a second to remember  _Jason_  was on his couch before bolting in the direction of the noise.

Jason was no longer on his couch – he was on his floor, still ten. Tiny clenched fists swung at the air, his cheeks wet and his eyes clenched. The noise that had woken Tim was Jason, crashing to the ground.

“Jason!” Tim shouted to wake him, kneeling beside the boy. He flinched back when a sleeping fist flew in his direction before catching the younger boy’s wrists and holding them still.

“Jason wake up!” Tim shook him, trying not to be too hard. The boy shot awake, eyes going wide and hair sticking to his forehead. He struggled for a moment until Tim let him go before scrambling into a sitting a position. He looked around, confused, before settling on Tim, his breathing rapid.

“You had a nightmare,” Tim explained slowly at the look on Jason’s face, “I just came to wake you, I didn’t want you to hurt yourse—”

And then Jason was against him, arms around his neck and head buried in his chest, _crying_. Honest to god crying, sobbing with half breaths and snotty chokes and shaking like a…

_Like a child_ , Tim thought resignedly.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay Jason, it’s okay,” he sighed, pulling the boy into a proper hug and rubbing up and down his spine soothingly until the younger boy calmed down, soft hiccups occasionally escaping his chest.

“Hey now. That was pretty dramatic hu? What’s going on in that little head of yours?” Tim murmured, pulling Jason back a little to see his face. His eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks shiny and his lips still quivering slightly.

“I –hic- get bad d-dreams. Of b-bad things ha-happening,” Jason’s lip started to shake a little harder and then he pushed himself back against Tim, hiding his face.

“P-please don’t be Red Robin anymore,” the boy whispered.

“What?” Tim asked – was that was Jason dreamed about?

It was suddenly very clear that tales of death were not an appropriate bedtime story.

“Please don’t be Red Robin. Please? Please just stay here? Don’t be Red Robin.”

“Jay—”

And then Jason was pulling back again, his eyes wide and serious and his hands moving to fist at Tim’s shirt like his words were the greatest importance in the world.

“I figure you’re a superhero cuz you’re lonely a-and you got nothing to lose. But now you have me! You can go to school a-and be a smart nerd person and I-I’ll stay here and I’ll be really quiet and keep the place clean and I’ll get a job and you can come home and not go and be dangerous and not be dead and please?”

“That’s no-”

“But now you gotta come home! You have to because there’s someone waiting. I never had to go home because no-one was waiting but now I’m waiting for you so you’re not allowed to die cuz you gotta come home. Right? So you can’t be Red Robin.” Tim didn’t say anything while Jason stared, his eyes flickering back and forth between Tim’s as he desperately waited for Tim’s agreement. Tim sighed heavily and patted Jason lightly on the back.

“It’s late. We should go back to sleep.”

Jason’s mouth pinched into a thin line and his face set determinedly.

“Tell me you won’t be Red Robin.”

“I can’t do that Jason. I won’t lie.” The words were like a slap in the face to the younger boy. His face fell a little before picking back up.

“Fine. No lies. You don’t lie to me, I won’t lie to you. But you gotta come home. Every night.” Tim raised an eyebrow at the younger man, barely containing a grin.

Little Jason was kind of… cute.

“Really now?”

“Yes. Or I’ll never forgive you. A-and I’ll… I’ll rearrange your bookshelf.” Tim actually snorted in laughter, earning an angry huff from the smaller boy.

“Okay, okay. I’ll come home. But you have to come home too. No running away to dirty alleyways.”

“I’ll always be here. Why else would you come home?” Tim chuckled.

“Then good.  _Now_  will you go to bed?”

“No,” Jason held up his fist, a small pinkie finger pointing out, “swear on it. Swear you’ll come home every night.”

Tim pulled his arm back around, pushing out his pinkie finger.

“You gotta promise too,” Tim said seriously. Jason hooked their smallest fingers together.

“I promise that I will come home every night,” Jason said strongly. He looked at Tim expectantly.

“I promise that I will come home every night,” Tim repeated with a small smile. Jason shook their fingers once before pulling his hand away.

“Good,” He said.

“ _Now_  can I go back to bed?” Jason looked a little surprised but simply shrugged.

“Sure.” He climbed away from Tim, back onto the couch, watching as Tim stood and shot Jason an uncertain look.

“Are you okay?” Tim asked, noting Jason’s stiff back and tight lip.

“Fine.”

Tim sighed and shook his head.

“Whatever,” he mumbled, heading back to his room. He collapsed on the bed, curving onto his side, waiting. It was only a few minutes before he heard Jason’s light footsteps.

“C-can I…?”

Tim sighed and rolled to look at the younger boy. He was standing in the doorway, clutching his pillow, eyes wide once more. Tim just rolled his eyes and nodded.

Jason pattered quickly to the bed’s side crawling across the soft mattress and pulling himself under the blanket. He snuggled for a moment before looking over at Tim, who was watching him.

“Thank you,” he murmured quietly.

“Uh hu,” Tim mumbled in return, rolling back over onto his side so that his back was facing Jason.

He wasn’t trying to be rude – but really, it was  _late_ , he was  _tired_  and he was more comfortable on his side anyway. There were a few long moments of nearly silent breathing. Then a light rustling and the covers pulling and pushing as Jason rolled over. Then stillness.

Tim waited.

One minute passed.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Four minutes.

Four and a half—and Jason was moving again, shifting across the bed. Tim felt Jason’s back press against his own, as stiff and straight as a plank of wood in his nervousness. Tim looked over his shoulder at the younger boy. He still had his pillow pressed against his chest like one would clutch a teddy bear, one of his arms under his head where the pillow should be.

Tim shook his head and rolled onto his back. He threaded his arm under Jason’s head for a pillow, tugging so that the boy’s back was pressed against his side. He felt Jason sigh, long and slow, like the breath was taking all the tension from his body until he was completely relaxed. Tim copied him and let his head lull to the side, his eyes drooping until sleep claimed him once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tim!”

A finger jammed into his side painfully.

Tim groaned and rolled a little away from the pain. It happened again and Tim’s eyes popped open, making out the fuzzy dark outline of Jason’s form.

“Tim…” Jason whimpered – he sounded scared again.

“Jay…Did you have another nightmare?” Tim sat up a little, already reaching for the younger boy, “I told you, I’ll come home. I won’t die on you.”

“How quaint.”

Tim grabbed Jason, yanking him close, partially behind at the sound of a new voice.

Jason whimpered again, shrinking himself into Tim’s side.

“Who are you,” Tim growled, “and what are you doing in my apartment?”

“Relax seedling,” the voice purred, a figure pushing its way off the doorframe and slinking closer to the bed, “I merely came to check on my experiment.”

“Ivy?  _You_  did this to Jason?” The boy pushed himself further into Tim’s side at the mention of his name and Tim curved around him protectively. She giggled in an amused manner.

“Yup!”

“ _Why?!”_  She shrugged, smiling.

“He irked me.  _I_ could see the truth. So I encouraged my plants to show it to  _him_.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Nothing,” she said in a voice of perfect innocence, “that is Jason Todd. In his  _purest_ form.”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

“That was the experiment. Say, little seedling, you, deep down, always thought yourself to be a woman. Then you were exposed to  _my_  plants. Then you would become a woman.”

“So what? Jason is childish so he became a  _child_?”

“No, no, you miss the point! That is Jason Todd as he  _always_  is. Granted this is what he _really_  is. Jason Todd is not a tough, murdering psychopath. He is a scared, pathetically whimpering little boy, clinging to the last thing he has. At his core Jason Todd a child – hurt, scared, confused, misguided. But a child nonetheless.” Jason’s grip on Tim’s shirt tightened, his head turning to hide in Tim’s shoulder and Tim pulled him closer glaring at Ivy.

“I must say I am surprised,” she continued casually, “that his attraction for you continued into this state. This is meant to be his deepest internal being. I was almost sure your roots did not spread so deep – but it appears I was mistaken.”

“His  _what?!”_

“Attraction seedling, do not play me for a fool by pretending you did not hear. What I believed to be a lust grown from mutual hatred and begrudging respect appears to actually be much more than that… how interesting. And that  _you_  found him, out of all the possible bats…” She clapped her hands together excitedly.

“It’s so  _romantic._ ”

“Change him back,” Tim demanded. Ivy stopped swooning, eyeing Tim carefully.

“Why should I? I find this form far less irritating to his normal one.”

“Because you  _know_  it will take me all of six hours to find a cure and change him back but I’m really quite tired and don’t want to have to deal with that at the moment so if you could just do that and leave then maybe I won’t find a way to poison half the plants in Gotham city.”

Ivy made a light hissing sound and Jason nudged him.

“Don’t make her mad!” He whispered desperately.

“See! This form fears me. Why should I return to the other?”

“Because this isn’t  _right_  Ivy, he’s a  _child_.” She pursed her lips.

“I suppose it would be rather unfortunate to leave him as a child when you now know of his affections.”

Tim simply growled in response and she sighed, pulling a greenish needle out what appeared to be a flower growing from her hip.

“My experiment was successful nonetheless. I shall return him to his normal state.” She moved closer, obviously intending to administer her needle, causing Jason to yank Tim a little further from the edge of the bed – he wanted to flee but he refused to move further away without Tim.

“I’ll do it,” Tim snapped quickly snatching the needle from Ivy’s grip.

“Fine, fine, no need to be  _rude_.”

“Will this cure him?”

“Yes, why else would I have gotten it out?”

Jason peeked up at Tim from over his shoulder, the younger boy’s eyes huge.

“Do you trust me Jay?”

“I shouldn’t! I don’t know you! I only met you a few hours ago!” Jason whined, shrinking smaller, his eyes flicking from Tim’s face to the needle in his grasp.

“I asked if you do, not if you  _should_.” Jason’s bottom lip slipped under his teeth and he nodded.

“Pass me your arm.” Jason pulled his arm out slowly, the limb shaking.

“What will it do?”

“Make you better.”

“Bu-but I’m not sick!”

“Make you  _older_.”

“Will I have a beard?”

“If you don’t shave.

Jason laughed nervously.

“Don’t look.” Jason turned his head into Tim’s shoulder and his hand curled into a fist.

Tim thread the tip of the needle under the edge of Jason’s skin, pushing at the plunger and emptying the pale green liquid into Jason’s system. The boy made a small noise of pain but then was silent.

“If this hurts him I’ll make you pay dearly Ivy.” Tim growled as Jason’s grip on the back of Tim’s shirt began to weaken.

“It won’t hurt him. He’ll fall asleep while his body goes through the appropriate changes and he’ll wake up the same old angry, bitter Jason Todd.”

“Will he remember? Being a child?”

“Of course. Otherwise, what’s the fun?”

Tim pulled Jason around, the boy quickly going limp.

“Tiimmmm…” He mumbled as the older boy adjusted him.

“Go to sleep Jason.”

“Mmmmm….”

Tim turned his head to Ivy, who watched with interest.

“You can  _go_  now.” She rolled her eyes.

“Touchy, touchy,” She muttered, turning away. Tim looked back down at Jason when he felt the sharp stab in the side of his neck. He reached up, feeling a small cylinder – a dart.

“What…” he spun to face Ivy.

“What did you do?! What was in that?!” She simply smiled and giggled lightly as Tim’s world began to spin.

“Just making sure you don’t go anywhere for when he wakes seedling.” Ivy said, her voice seeming to grow fainter with every word.

“You… dru…g…” Tim collapsed backwards onto his bed, Jason’s tiny sleeping form falling with him, both of them completely unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was being petted.

Stroked like a cat.

Something was rubbing repetitively along his cheek in a warm soothing motion.

Something was pressed against his other cheek, a source of warmth that tickled lightly, air ghosting over the edge of his chin.

Tim forced open a groggy eye. The thing stroking him was a hand, cupped against his cheek, the thumb scaling up and down slowly.

It was  _Jason’s_  hand.

And  _Jason’s_  forehead was pressed against his other cheek, his nose just resting on his chin and sending warm air prickling over his skin. His arm was curved over Tim’s chest, up and around the front of his neck.

Panic set in.

Jason was still asleep. If he woke up like  _this_  it was a half a second before Tim found his air supply lacking. He had to get ou-

Jason twitched, his thumb pausing for a moment. Tim felt a sigh press over the skin of his neck, the curved of Jason’s nose as it traced along Tim’s cheek. He turned his head very slightly, catching Jason’s gaze.

His eyes were open. He was awake. And  _smiling_.

“Mmm… I like these,” Jason mumbled into Tim’s cheek, looking up at him from under his lashes shyly in a way that made Tim’s head drum out an extra beat, “these dreams are so much better than the nightmares.”

Jason sighed heavily and turned his head against Tim’s again, angled so his forehead was against Tim’s now younger temple.

“I wish I could just dream of you all the time. I want this,” His arm tightened around Tim, pulling him closer, “forever. I don’t want to wake up.” Then Jason was moving his head slightly, his lips pressing against the edge of Tim’s, tracing lightly to Tim’s chin and then back again, kissing the younger boy more fully on the lips. Tim didn’t move, too shocked to do anything more than lay there and feel the oddly soft, but slightly chapped lips lightly claim his own.

“So beautiful my Tim,” Jason mumbled with his lips against Tim’s before pressing more solidly.

Just as soon as it had happened it was over, Jason’s head turning to rest on Tim’s again. HIs eyes sunk closed and Tim felt the lashes flutter against his cheek.

“Don’t make me wake up.”

Tim needed to say something.

Because Jason thought he was dreaming.

Because Jason thought he was dreaming BECAUSE he had dreamed it before. Often.

And he liked it.

Tim shifted lightly under Jason’s grip and felt a smile crinkle into the skin of his cheek. With Jason it was all about the waiting.

Sure enough a minute passed and Jason’s whole body stiffened, his eyes shooting wide against Tim’s cheek.

“This isn’t a dream,” he growled.

Tim opened his mouth to respond, but that was evidence enough. Jason shoved him aside, scrambling as fast as he could across the bed and launching himself out of it. Tim could see him panicking, fear trapped in the corners of his eyes.

“Jay—”

Jason was already running, bolting for the window.

“Jason, wait!” But he was gone, half way down the fire escape. Tim bolted after him.

“JASON!”

It was too late. Jason was halfway down the street, disappearing barefoot around the corner by the time Tim so much as got his shoulders out the window. Tim pulled himself back inside the apartment and smashed his fist into the wall. He felt one of the knuckles pop.

“Fuck!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a migraine building in the back of his brain.

He was exhausted.

He was stressed.

He was worried.

He just wanted to go home and go to bed and worry about everything in the morning. That was until his cell phone rang with some  _imbecile_ from Wayne enterprises, informing Tim that a project that he had requested  _weeks_  ago, a project that was due _tomorrow_ , had not been completed.

It hadn’t even been  _started._

He was walking up the stairs to his apartment, his bag heavy with assignments and homework of his own. He had to patrol tonight.

He had to find  _Jason_.

Tim pushed himself into the apartment and let his back fall against the wood of his door when it closed, his bag falling off his shoulder with a heavy ‘thump,’ phone pressed to his ear and a hand against his forehead.

“But it was  _your_  job why hasn’t it been completed?!” he heard the excuses, none of which said anything but screamed ‘I knew  _you_  would do it.’

Tim fought back a whimper when a large spike of pain, strong enough to force him bend over a little and clutch his head a little tighter, shot through his mind.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll do  _your_  work that you had  _two weeks_  to complete and I’ll do it in  _one night_  on top EVERYTHING else I have to do.” Tim shot, unable to keep the sarcasm and straight out fury from his voice as pain spasmed through his brain again.

Something grabbed him – _ohgodI’mgoingtodieonthephonetothisidiotfuckIneverfoundJason_ – and pulled him away from the door. His eyes snapped open as the phone was pulled from his grip.

“Mr. Wayne has an engagement tonight and will be unable to complete your work for you. He expects it on his desk in the morning. I suggest you put on a pot of coffee and stop relying on Mr. Wayne to perform your job  _before_  it becomes redundant.”

Jason snapped the phone closed, tossing it on the couch behind him and a hand reached around, pressing into the nape of Tim’s neck, applying just the right amount of pressure in just the right spot. Tim groaned and Jason’s stepped forward to catch him as the younger boy melted.

“You came back,” Tim mumbled into Jason’s chest. Jason’s fingers massaged lightly at the back of Tim’s neck, making his eyes droop and the pain in his head lessen dramatically – the younger boy could smell food, something like tomato, and his stomach grumbled demandingly, “and you’re cooking?”

Jason chuckled lightly, the sound grumbling through his chest.

“Just spaghetti. I can’t cook anything else.”

“Bu-but you came back,” Tim said, going back to his original point before his stomach interrupted. Jason’s free hand reached down, catching one of Tim’s and curing a pinkie finger through the younger boys and squeezing lightly, smiling down at Tim softly.

“I promised I would, didn’t I?”


End file.
